Potassium Citrate Mixture is sometimes used to make the urine alkaline but tastes unpleasant. Effervescent tablets (Effercitrate - Typharm) have recently been introduced as a palatable and more convenient alternative. One tablet contains the equivalent of 5 ml of the Mixture BPC 1973 (13.9 mmol potassium) in a lemon-flavoured effervescent base. Effercitrate may prove more acceptable than the mixture when urinary alkalinization is needed as in patients with post-irradiation cystitis, 1 in certain urinary infections, and to prevent crystalluria during treatment with high doses of sulphonamides or methotrexate. Both preparations should be avoided in patients with chronic renal failure.
Stanley C. HollanderLeonard W. Weiss